To J. D. Hooker   6 May [1859]

Down Bromley Kent

May 6th

My dear Hooker

Thanks for advice about Reversion & clearness. When I go over 1st Ch. I will see what I can do.— But I hardly know how I am obscure; & I think we are somehow in a mutual muddle with respect to each other, from starting from some fundamentally different notions.—1

Confound the Acacias, say I.— A very little experiment, would, I think be worth trying, if you have 2 trees of same species; take pollen from one, ((that grown under any to most different circumstances) & dust the stigmas well 2 or 3 times of same half-dozen or dozen flowers on the other tree at intervals of a day or two, & see whether that will improve the chance of setting seed.—2

I am very glad to hear that you will look to Goodenia.—3

Yours affect. | C. Darwin

The dusting with pollen shd. be done in morning.

1
CD’s opinion was published in Origin, pp. 14–15 and 159–67. Hooker’s views on reversion were given in Hooker 1859, pp. viii–ix. CD’s copy of Hooker 1859 is in the Darwin Library–CUL; these pages were annotated by CD, and three passages are marked ‘good’. See also letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 May [1859].
2
CD and Hooker had evidently discussed the question of cross-pollination in Acacia and Goodenia when Hooker had visited Down in April. See letter to J. D. Hooker, 2 July [1859].

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.2 do] ‘d’ over illeg
1.2 how] above del ‘where’
1.2 obscure] above del ‘unclear’
2.2 trying,] comma over ‘—’
2.4 on the other tree] interl
2.4 intervals] after del ‘different’
5.1 in] ‘i’ over illeg

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-2458,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-2458